Awakened Being

Awakened Beings (覚醒者 Kakusei-sha) are former Claymores who went over their 80% limit and Awakened. Their forms vary greatly and, similar to Yoma, have a desire to eat humans. Even so, they are much stronger than Yoma, who are often reduced to working for Awakened Beings as expendable drones.

Awakened Beings, officially, are known to humans as Voracious Eaters, and are explained as simply being Yoma that have simply lived too long and as a result have become more powerful. This lie was made up in order to cover up the fact that it is actually Claymores themselves who become this bigger, stronger type of Yoma.

At the start of the story, the Organization turned a blind eye to Awakened Beings, only hunting them when payed to by a town. After the invasion of Pieta however, The Organization changed their rules to actively hunt any Awakened Being once it was discovered.

It is later shown that the Organization deliberately makes Awakened Beings by hybridizing males at an Awakened Being "factory." Weirdly enough, pre-Awakening males do not show the normal effects of being a hybrid and otherwise appear as a normal human despite the Yoki before they go over their limit, though likely this is because they are deliberately made so that they Awaken immediately. The first known group was sent to Rabona as revenge for Miria's attack on the Organization, and a second group was encountered by Anastasia's group just outside of Organization headquarters. The Ghosts annihilate both groups and Tabitha, the de facto leader at the time, makes a choice to destroy the factory.

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Biology, Appearance and Characteristics

Each Awakened Being has his or her own appearance and, unlike Claymores or Yoma who have same physical traits with each other, they do not share any physical traits between them. Some of the Awakened Beings may have the form of an animal, like Jean's Awakened form seems to bear an appearance similar to that of a butterfly, Ophelia's half-snake, lamia-like body, or even Rigardo's humanoid lion form. It was thought that an Awakened Being's form does not come from its form as a Claymore, since Alicia and Beth Awakened but didn't have identical forms despite being identical twins. However, this is perhaps due to Beth's infection by a Parasitic Rod and her subsequent mutation to take traits of Luciela's Awakened form. In later chapter, it is confirmed that at least twins have identical Awakened forms since the trainee twins are identical even as Awakened Beings.

It is generally thought that Awakened Beings completely lose all connection to their humanity, and often that appears to be the case. Awakened Beings can be incredibly cruel, vicious, sadistic, and are often ravenous as well. One often sees an Awakened Being give off an air of confidence, one they retain until they are overpowered or realize they are in danger.
In a strange irony, the Awakened Being Ophelia's personality was so much like her Awakened persona that she did not even realize she had Awakened, much to her horror.
However, despite the presumption, there are several Awakened Beings that have displayed human like sentimentality and even genuine affection. A prime example is Riful and Dauf's relationship, Dauf being obsessed and incredibly protective of Riful and Riful feeling so as well - albeit she is prone to manipulate the slow witted behemoth for her own amusement, yet still risked her life to try to drag him to safety. Isley and Priscilla also display a kind of sentimentality, and oddly enough one shared with Raki, a human - prey. This is so much that Priscilla actually protected an infected Raki by implanting her own hand into his body to prevent the Destroyer Rods from taking him over.
Another strange case is with Miria's friend, Hilda. Despite being a single digit Claymore, when she Awakened she was defeated without being able to kill a single one of her attackers. Even more strange is that she did not even speak the entire time. Awakened Beings, amongst all of their characteristics, typically have a powerful survival impulse. It is strange that an Awakened Being would not use such a simple a thing as messing with the head of someone it knew as a Claymore. Not unless it could not bring itself to do it.

Awakened Beings are typically far more powerful than any mere Yoma - even the weakest of Awakened Beings far surpass them - and are also more dangerous than Claymores. While they tend to abandon the near-indestructible swords they wielded as Claymores, the very powerful and intelligent Awakened can alter their bodies in use of various strategies and attacks far beyond a Yoma's faculties. From flat, ribbon like tendrils as sharp as swords, to limbs that can adapt to the enemy, to even Awakened Beings who have Awakened forms designed to create many dummy forms to hide their true weak points.
It seems that many Awakened Beings have their forms influenced by their own personalities.

List of known Awakened Beings

Abyssal One

The Abyssal Ones are Awakened Beings that were former No. 1 Claymores before they reached their limits. Their form and abilities are similar to those of lesser Awakened Beings and ordinary Yoma, but they are vastly more powerful, strong enough to control an entire quadrant of the world.

Humanoid Awakened Form

The most-shown form in the series, it is the direct opposite of the animal-shaped Awakened Being.

Very little is known about this Being apart from that it was a former single digit female Claymore and was killed by Ophelia. Her form is mostly humanoid apart from the enhanced size and elongated body that is more stretched than just bigger. Her neck shares these elongated properties as well as her arms, which seem to have no hands but instead have tentacles with a thin film of flesh connecting them.

Her hair is made of these tentacles as well but missing the thin film of flesh connecting them. (Note: The actual purpose for the film connecting the tentacles are unknown but her body does not look designed for travel, so they may work in terms of flight.) She uses these tentacles to attack her enemy, as evidence in chapter 33 and episode 12 where she demolished all the buildings surrounding her with them. As she is not considered an Abyssal One it suggests she wasn't a former No.1, only a single digit. Also the generation she originates from is unknown.

Agatha was her generation's No. 2. After Awakening, she hid in the holy city of Rabona and feasted upon the people there in secret. Eventually, her presence is discovered by Galatea, who releases her Yoki in order to manipulate the Organization into sending warriors there to look for her. Her hope is that the Organization's warriors will side with her to kill Agatha once and for all.

When Galatea is found by Miata and Clarice, she leads them to Agatha, resulting in a three way fight between Miata, Galatea, and the Awakened Being. In this fight, Galatea loses an arm from Miata, who ignored Agatha entirely and focused solely on her task of taking Galatea's head.

Agatha's Awakened form is a large 8-legged creature on which her human form sits, connected by her hair. Her true body is below her, protected by an Awakened shell. In order to harm her human appearance, her hair must be cut. She kills soldiers and uses their blood to quench her thirst and bathe in. Her nickname is "Fresh Blood Agatha". She is later defeated by the seven survivors of the Northern Campaign.

Rosemary was a former No. 1 of the Organization, but was demoted to No. 2 when Teresa was promoted. While feigning acceptance, Rosemary secretly harbored an intense jealousy and hatred for Teresa.

This hatred eventually led to Rosemary's Awakening. Shortly afterwards, she sent Teresa her black card in order to lure Teresa to an isolated plateau. Rosemary then challenged her to a fight to death. However, Teresa was able to kill her while just releasing ten percent of her Yoma energy. In her Awakened form, she resembles a Xenomorph from the Alien trilogy with her human body fused into the Awakened torso, including her body waist up and her head on the chest.

Dauf was originally his generation's Claymore #3, surpassed only by Rigardo and Isley. He is currently Riful's follower and lover, helping her torture captured Claymores and forcing them to Awaken. Dauf, in his Awakened form, is an immense humanoid with tremendous strength and exceptionally hard armour plating. He can form large rods from his armor (usually from his hands, back, and in his mouth), firing them as projectiles or using them as makeshift spears. Riful has stated that she made Dauf her lover because he is the only Yoma who could "accept her without breaking". However, for all his physical power, Dauf is rather unintelligent and notably poor at tactics, and his regeneration and healing abilities are also very slow. In his first appearance, he manages to fight Clare and Galatea to a standstill, as neither could breach his armor. He is defeated when Jean manages to cut a gaping hole into his chest with her Drill Sword, nearly killing him. Accordingly, Riful is forced to intervene to save his life. He is extremely devoted to her and is terrified that she will one day leave him. Eventually, he is mortally wounded by the Parasitic Rods and then Priscilla, only able to watch as Riful is devoured by the latter. In his grief, he allows himself to be infected by the Parasitic Rods in order to have his revenge, but is soundly defeated and torn to shreds by Priscilla's Awakened form.

Hilda was formerly No. 6 of the Organization. She was active at the same time as Miria, No. 17 at the time of their first meeting, and they were close friends. When she reached her limit, she gave her black card to Ophelia asking her to pass it on to Miria. Ophelia instead ripped it apart, condemning her to become an Awakened Being. She was later hunted down by a team including Ophelia and Miria. Hilda was slain by Miria, who at that time didn't realize her identity. After Miria realized it was Hilda she had just killed, she temporarily lost control of her Yoki powers which led her to partially Awaken. Years later, Miria stumbled across Hilda's sword, which Hilda had lost when she had Awakened. Miria placed the sword in the ground where Hilda died, in memory of her friend.

In her Awakened form, she resembles a large (about as big as Dauf) humanoid with what looks like mummy wraps around her body that can be extended.

As a human he appears as a man with a scar across one eye and spiky hair. A giant covered by a bony exoskeleton, this Awakened Being used tendrils made of bone segments for rapid movement and attacks.

Sent as a scout by Isley with two other Awakened Beings before the assault on Pieta, he recklessly charges into the town, killing several townspeople apparently for fun. Miria saves a young girl from him and quickly orders the Claymores into battle, drawing in the other two Awakened Beings. The first creature was attacked by Team Miria, who managed to tear off Yuma's arm before Miria easily decapitated him.

This female Awakened Being hid herself in a crowd of humans. The Organization, looking for Renee, had three Claymores and three handlers (one of them being Rubel) in this town yet none of them noticed her because of the warriors' ingestion of yoki suppression pills. When Clare, Cynthia and Yuma arrive at the town, but before they reveal themselves, the Awakened Being transforms into her Awakened form, a crab-legged humanoid capable of growing wings. After engaging Clare in battle, the Awakened Being splits herself from her lower half (revealing a more humanoid appearance) and has wings, which shocked even Clare. Clare, Cynthia and Yuma team up and kill her. In her human form, she appears as a ordinary woman with blond hair and dressed in a way that hints she had been living in the village for some time.

A male Awakened Being that Dietrich and three unnamed Claymores fight in the southern lands. During the battle, he successfully lures them into a lake or body of water where Claymores' speed is reduced, and Deneve and Helen end up helping the team. His Awakened form is 2 legged but had 4 arms and 3 tails. Unlike other Awakened Beings, he doesn't show any ability to speak.

Animal Form Awakened Being

This kind of Awakened Being has many different type of shapes and is the second most shown in the series, losing out only to humanoid-shaped Awakened form.

Priscilla was formerly a Claymore of the Organization, ranked #2, who Awakened shortly after killing Teresa.

As an Awakened Being, Priscilla is a winged humanoid about 2m tall with a single horn on her forehead. Her body channels vast quantities of Yoki, surpassing even that of any of the Abyssal Ones.

In addition to vast strength and speed, this also grants her unparalleled regenerative abilities, allowing near-instantaneous regeneration from any wound that is not immediately fatal. Like many Yoma and Awakened Beings, Priscilla can extend her fingers at high speed to strike from a range. Her arms can unravel and extend into tentacles/ribbons that crush and tear her opponents, an ability she used to destroy half of Isley's torso in a split-second despite his bulk.

This Awakened Being is the first Clare ever hunts. The Organization sends a combined team consisting Clare, Miria, Deneve and Helen, and intends for them to be killed off by this Awakened Being as a result of their problematic behavior towards the Organization. This Awakened Being's form possesses six arms, and he initially takes human appearance to lull the Claymores into lowering their guard.

Although its former rank is unknown, it can be asserted that he must have at least been in the top 15, for he was able to defeat Miria with fair ease. However, it is not between the first 9 because when Rubel gave Clare the mission of hunting a former single digit, he mentioned the difference between the two beings.

In the more recent chapters, with the revelation that the Organization deliberately made and still makes Awakened Beings, it is revealed that his mention of Miria's "one mistake" is in relation to that fact. This shows that he was a recently made Awakened Being rather than one from Isley's generation.

Ophelia was a former No. 4 Claymore of Clare's generation who Awakened after her defeat by Irene. She was known to be sadistic in personality, taking joy in toying with her prey and shedding blood regardless of whether they are Yoma, human, or fellow Claymores. In her Awakened form, she resembles a large lamia with elongated blades in place of regular arms, as well as possessing blades protruding from her back. She also possesses the ability to rearrange her vulnerable, 'human' body parts to her tail, which she demonstrates in a final 'game' against Clare. In the end, she is killed by the latter, leaving her vow of vengeance against Priscilla, who had killed and devoured her brother years ago, to the younger Claymore.

Being far smaller in stature than the average Awakened Being, Rigardo's size is made up for by his correspondingly superior speed and agility. His speed can easily match and even surpass that of Miria, one of the fastest Claymores of her generation, and his greater Yoki and experience allows him to maintain it without tiring. For long-range and surprise attacks, Rigardo can extend his claws at high speed, much the same way Yoma and other Awakened Beings can hyper-extended their fingers. His control over this skill is so great he can bend and change the trajectory of his elongated claws, allowing him to strike opponents above or behind him. In contrast to his offensive capability, Rigardo lacks particular power in his regenerative powers. This is noted by his need to reattach his severed arm instead of growing a new one.

Katea was part of Jean's team in a hunt for an Awakened Being in the Zakol Mountains. After being captured by Riful and Dauf, she is tortured until she Awakens.

After concluding that she was too weak to be of use, Riful ordered Dauf to kill her. In her Awakened form, she has a white, glowing body and blades at her back that can be extended and are sharp enough to penetrate through Dauf's skin. However, she was unable to withstand his brute strength and died.

The second Being in Isley's scouting party wears a cowl and remains seated as a human. However, he possesses powerful Yoki Manipulation skills, forcing the members of Team Flora to attack each other and immobilizing them - the most powerful Yoki-manipulating Claymore, Galatea, can only occasionally misdirect attacks. He states that he 'loves being a monster', before assuming his Awakened form, an armored quadruped with a tail and huge eyes able to project spines from between his back plating like a porcupine.

The combined efforts of Team Flora and Team Undine are required to dispatch this Awakened Being, with four Claymores being taken out immediately by his spines. Undine is then manipulated into overstepping her limit and is only saved when Deneve kicks her out of the way. Deneve and Clare are undeterred by the Awakened Being's attempt to cause them to Awaken, but Deneve requires Undine's immense strength to fully cut through the Awakened Being's armored neck. Even after decapitation, the Awakened Being attempts to force two low-ranked Claymores to exceed their limits, until his head is minced by Flora and Clare's combined Windcutter and Quicksword assault.

The human form of this Awakened Being is a lean, bald man with a blindfold. His Awakened form, an giant flying insect with many bladed arms, also had no visible eyes, although he was clearly able to anticipate attacks. After noting that many Claymores in the Northern army were afraid to face Awakened Beings, he attacks Jean's team, incapacitating the four lower ranking members. He mocks Jean for holding back to protect her weaker comrades, before dodging an extended arm attack from Helen, as Team Veronica arrived to give support. He uses his multiple limbs to parry attacks from all five Claymores, wounding Veronica and Cynthia, before Jean and Helen use their special attacks to remove all his limbs. Both Veronica and Cynthia finish him off.

Other or Unknown Awakened Being Shaped

Worm Thing Awakened Being

First Appearance: Chapter 73 (Manga)

Rank: Unknown

Status: Deceased

The Awakened Being is hunted by both Clarice and Miata on their way to Rabona for their quest to hunt Galatea. It has the appearance of a large ball with many worms and mouths coming from a large vital part.

Pieta Awakened Beings

In the battle of Pieta (the Northern Campaign) the 24 Claymores fought against all of Isley's army that is composed of Awakened Beings with strong power and abilities such as controlling Yoki flow. A majority if not all were male Awakened Beings.

After the battle of Pieta, Isley sent half of the surviving Awakened Beings to delay Riful and Dauf and the other half of delay the Organization (Alicia and Beth). His surviving army was unaware of his intentions until it was too late, and they were sacrificed by Isley so that Isley could fight Luciela. None of them survived. They were later used in creating the creatures known as the Abyss Feeders.

Half-Awakened Beings

Half-Awakened are Claymores that went past their limits yet somehow managed to pull themselves back, preventing them from truly Awakening. The exact nature of this state is unknown, and only five known Claymore have become half awakened, albeit one of that number is deceased. It is unknown how much has changed in them, though at times they seem to have pangs of actual hunger, and the power of their yoki and even amount is considerably greater. Also they seem to be able to tap somewhat further into their Yoki stores than other Claymore as well. In some cases it also allows them to use abilities that are normally seen in Claymore at the edge of awakening, such as limb alteration and accelerated regeneration.

Clare

Clare was No. 47 in the Organization during her generation. She is described by Irene having burning fire inside her heart which is why she does not suit the Quicksword. She half-Awakens at Rabona, fighting recklessly while injured, which causes her to pass her limit. Fortunately, she is able to return back to normal.

Miria

Miria was Claymore #6 during Clare's time. Miria has great leadership qualities and cares deeply about her comrades. She is also very humble, since she only improved her technique on recommendation by Hilda. She half-Awakened after realizing an Awakened Being she killed was her best friend, but managed to stop the process, claiming that she did not want to fight No. 4, Ophelia.

Deneve

Deneve is Claymore #15 in Clare's time and is a perfectionist who posses a calm personality. She was trying to find out her limit, though was stopped by Helen realizing it and that she is also a human, not fully Yoma.

Helen

Helen is Claymore #22 in Clare's time and is often hot tempered and aggressive. She had trouble resisting Awakening like the male Claymores, though she was able to turn back and become a half-Awakened.

Jean

Jean was number #9 in Clare's time. Unlike many Claymores, she has great willpower, retaining her human mind even though she had changed to her Awakened form.